Dr. Saad Al-Agba has been treating patients for 32 years at his clinic, Silverdale Pediatrics. But last year in July, patients saw a new face, one that may have looked oddly familiar. Niran Al-Agba, just out of medical school, joined her father’s practice as a second pediatrician, and the two have enjoyed working together ever since.

“He raised me and knows me pretty well, and we have discovered how much alike we are,” Niran Al-Agba said. “We think alike, we ask the same questions, and I think our patients like it too because of the similarities when we treat each other’s patients.”

A 1991 Olympic High School graduate, Niran grew up in Silverdale and only left while going to medical school. As a medical student, she hadn’t decided what she’d practice, but her love of children and the enjoyment of the pediatrics portion in school helped her decide. Now, the father and daughter are both partners in the business.

Dr. Johnny Green

Green says the real advantage of Kathleen managing the non-medical aspect of the practice is knowing that she has a vested interest in it. “I don’t have to worry at all about the management of the financial aspect,” he said. For Kathleen, working in the office has another bonus: She gets to see her husband more often. “As a surgeon, he’s not home very much, but I get to see him even if I’m not involved in patient care,” she said.

Kathleen Green says a master’s degree is optional for a business owner, but it has definitely helped her understand finances better. The office is still young, but the couple says there are still unmet needs in the community, and they keep their options for future growth open.

Dr. Derek Boyden, his wife Nancy, and a Patient

Dr. Derek Boyden and his wife Nancy have worked together for the past two years, ever since they opened their practice, Olympic Surgical Associates, in Port Orchard. He is a maxillofacial and cosmetic surgeon, and did his post-residency training with Dr. Clark Taylor in Missoula, Montana before opening his practice here.

Prior to opening their practice, Nancy was a nurse practioner, working in a hospital setting, and primarily dealing with chemically dependent patients. “This is really nice compared to that,” she laughed.

Even though most people don’t tend to think of the medical profession when they think about family businesses, it’s actually quite commonplace. When asked what it’s like working together in a family business, Nancy answered, “It’s a lot of fun. It’s very interesting to see him at work. It has really been amazing.” They don’t work side-by-side all day however. “We still have our separate practices, — I have my own patients and he has his,” she added.

Do they talk about work at home? “Absolutely not!” exclaimed Nancy. “In the beginning we did, because everything was new. But now we have a rule. We don’t talk about work at home. Anything we need to talk about pertaining to work, we talk about here. Otherwise it just consumes everything,” she state emphatically. “There’s more to life than work.”
  For 23 years, Dr. Jared Hendler has practiced general medicine on Bainbridge Island in what he calls an “old-fashioned small office.” “What’s unique about us is that over all these year, we’ve held out for what we believe in: quality care and personal relationships,” he said. Also a political activist, Hendler several years ago withdrew from all insurance participation, which means the practice accepts all insurance plans but “not all of them necessarily accept us.” Keeping up with all the changes and rules in the insurance industry became too cumbersome, he said. Since that means Medicare patients would not get reimbursed either, the practice does offer an in-house financial aid plan, a sliding fee discount, for low-income patients.
  “What I should be doing is giving medical care away,” he said, but when he tried once to do that for a half-dozen patients who’ve been with him for 20 years, none took him up on the offer. Hendler’s wife is a nurse at the practice.
“We spend a lot of time with our patients, and we know all of them,” he said. “We take care of our families.” Working together is a boon for the couple — Hendler says they get lonely when they’re apart for too long. A second doctor had recently decided to join the practice, but they keep their two practices separate under the same roof.
  Dr. Ed Kardong bought his Bainbridge dental practice in 1974 — where his now-wife was his first employee. Although she has tried almost every job there through the years, she eventually trained to be a hygienist. “She went to hygiene school at age 40,” he said. Kardong felt that working together could have some pitfalls with regards to office conflicts, so they established some rules beforehand. “We bend over backwards to make sure her opinion held the same weight as the other members of the staff, and no more than that,” he said. An office manager oversees all the staff.
  The couple treats the practice as a business that is separate from their home life, so they don’t discuss patients or work until they are at the office. Their children have also worked in the office while in high school, cleaning and holding other duties.